Philbin comfortable with choice of Wallace over Jennings

Phoenix - Miami Dolphins coach Joe Philbin, the former Packers offensive coordinator, denied he isn't a big fan of WR Greg Jennings and wouldn't say whether he considered signing the former Packer in free agency.

The bottom line is that the Dolphins signed Wallace, the former Pittsburgh Steeler who is three years young than Jennings, to a five-year, $60 million free agent contract that included $27 million guaranteed.

Philbin said during a media breakfast at the NFL owners meetings that Jennings is "an excellent football and his career reflects that. He did everything I asked of him when I worked with him on a consistent basis. I don't know where all that came from taht Joe Philbin doesn't like him."

Whatever the case, Philbin and general manager Jeff Ireland went after Wallace right out of the blocks.

To find out whether he was the right guy for the Dolphins, Philbin and Dolphins officials studied Wallace like he was the answer to the $60 million question. Typical of the meticulous nature of Philbin and offensive coordinator Mike Sherman, the two broke down every facet of Wallace's game before going after him.

"We did a lot of homework," Philbin said. "We charted every catch he’s made for the last couple of years, we charted every drop he’s made for the last couple of yeasr. We got it on a picture and we know where all the dots are: inside the numbers, outside the numbers, this deep, that deep.

"When you’re a receiver in the National Football League, you’re kind of charged with a couple of simple jobs. One is to get open and two to catch the ball and No. 3 to block if it’s a run. We expect him to get open, we expect him to catch the ball and hopefully make a couple of guys miss after."

Jennings, who signed a five-year, $45 milion deal with Minnesota, isn't nearly as fast as Wallace, but he is a superb route runner and works all areas of the field. Some have suggested that Wallace is a one-trick pony and all he can do is run go routes.

Philbin strongly disagreed with that assessment and said he had the facts to back it up.

"I’m not sure all those people studied the film and saw where all his catches were," Philbin said. "Some people might have wrote that down, but if you look at his catch chart, that might not be as accurate as you’d think."

About Tom Silverstein

Tom Silverstein has covered the Green Bay Packers since 1989. He is a two-time Wisconsin Sportswriter of the Year award winner.